R 

135.5 

c66h 


COHEN 

HYGIENE  AND  IVIED  1C INE 
OF  THE  TALMUD 


Univerj 
Soui 
Lil 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


THE  HYGIENE 
AND  MEDICINE 
OF  THE  TALMUD. 


A  Lecture  Delivered  at  the 

Medical  Department,  University  of  Texas, 

Galveston,  Texas,  by 

RABBI  HENRY  COHEN. 


Reprinted  from 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  TEXAS  RECORD, 
Vol.    Ill,    No.    4. 


The  Library 

alifornia.  Los  Angeles 


From  the  T 
Co1 


THE   HYGIENE   AND    MEDICINE   OF    THE 
TALMUD, 


[A  lecture  delivered  at  the  Medical  Department,  University  of  Texas, 
Galveston,  Texas,  by  Rabbi  Henry  Cohen.] 

For  the  purpose  of  this  article,  it  will  suffice  to  say,  that  the 
Talmud,  which  includes  the  Mishna,  or  Oral  Law,  and  the  Gemara, 
or  Commentary,  literally  "the  completion"  of  the  Mishna,  which 
isr  itself  is  a  commentary  on  the  Pentateuch,  or  Written  Law,  is  the 
compendium  of  Jewish  doctrine,  containing  the  history,  thought, 
7^>    manners  and  customs  of  the  people  from  every  standpoint  during 
^o   the  better  part  of  a  thousand  years  between  the  return  from  the 
;:T~~  Babylonian  Captivity  and  the  fifth  century  A.  C.  E.     The  Mishna 
i^   is  written  in  Hebrew — not  the  pure  Hebrew  of  the  Prophets,  but 
**>    a  language  understood  of  the  people — and  the  Gemara  in  Ara- 
maic, the  language  of  the  Jewish  populace  of  those  later  days; 
while  the  contact  with  Western  nations  introduced  many  Greek 
and  Latin  words  into  the  vernacular. 

There  are  two  recensions  of  the  Talmud,  the  Babylonian,  which 
is  the  more  complete,  and  the  Palestinian,  which  is  the  earlier;  the 
former  is  at  least  four  times  as  full  as  the  latter. 

The  Babylonian  Talmud  contains  thirty-six  treatises  under  the 
six  general  heads  of  the  Mishna,  and  is  published  in  twelve  folio 
volumes,  the  pagination  of  which,  to  facilitate  reference,  is  uni- 
form in  all  editions.  This  work  of  a  millenium  of  the  manners 
and  morals  of  the  Jewish  people  must  naturally  touch  upon  the 
inmost  life  of  those  whose  history  it  portrays,  and  therefore,  in 
the  exposition  of  the  Written  Law — incidental  to  which  is  the 
ethical  and  legal  philosophy  of  the  Rabbis  and  the  post-biblical 
history  of  the  Israelites  and  their  contemporaries — are  also  num- 
berless references  to  hygiene  and  medicine.  The  result  of  an 
inquiry  into  this  latter  branch  will  convey  an  idea  of  the  import- 
ance in  which  medico-sanitation  was  held  at  that  time,  as  well  as 
the  Talmudic  conception  of  dietetics,  anatomy,  physiology,  surgery, 
pathology,  and  therapeutics. 

Inasmuch  as  the  Talmud  in  its  entirety  is  a  commentary  on  the 
Mosaic  Code,  it  will  be  pertinent  to  review  the  Hygiene  of  the 


203S732 


— 2— 

Pentateuch.  The  Book  of  Leviticus  is  replete  with  commands  of 
great  sanitary  value.  The  use  of  certain  animals  for  food  was  for- 
bidden (llth  Chap.)  :  quadrupeds  that  did  not  divide  the  hoof 
and  chew  the  cud,  thus  bespeaking  digestive  difficulties,  fish  that 
had  not  fins  and  scales,  birds  that  eat  carrion,  aquatic,  winged, 
creeping  insects.  Swine  particularly  were  considered  unclean,  a 
foreshadowing  of  parasitic  impurity.  Of  the  inestimable  value  of 
these  prohibitions  upon  the  Israelite,  of  the  lessons  of  self-denial, 
self-control,  and  self-conquest  that  they  taught,  making  his  religion 
a  matter  of  every-day  life,  and  thus  moulding  his  character  to  ful- 
fill his  mission,  need  not  be  dwelt  upon  here. 

Personal  uncleanliness  was  guarded  against,  and  to  this  end  the 
medical  knowledge  of  Egypt,  tabulated  reports  of  which  were  kept, 
was  elaborated  and  developed.  Special  laws  referring  to  the  ablu- 
tionary  purification  of  women  were  enacted  (Lev.,  15th  Chap.), 
which,  witli  all  other  hygienic  and  dietary  rules,  obtain,  more  or 
less,  at  the  present  time. 

Salutary  tenets  concerning  prevention  of  disease  in  general  were 
studied,  and  the  isolation  of  an  infected  patient  was  compulsory. 
(Lev.,  13:46.)  Leprosy,  a  thorough  diagnosis  of  which  is  found 
in  Lev.,  13th  Chap.,  was  guarded  against  as  an  abominable  plague, 
and  the  biblical  instructions  relating  thereto  are  worthy  of  our  own 
age.  Water  left  uncovered  was  considered  impure  (Num.,  19:15), 
and  the  fighting  of  disease  by  fire  was  enjoined  (Num.,  31:23). 
The  total  destruction  of  infected  dwellings  and  wooden  household 
utensils  was  a  matter  of  necessity  (Lev.,  14:45),  and  running 
water  was  recommended  for  ablutions.  (Lev.,  15:13.) 

For  fear  of  contagion,  as  well  as,  perhaps,  for  other  reasons,  con- 
tact with  the  dead  was  forbidden  (Num.,  19:11) ;  stringent  purifi- 
cation is  prescribed  for  the  violation  of  this  law. 

The  Mosaic  canon,  by  its  prohibition  of  the  use  of  blood  (Lev., 
17:10-14;  Deut,  12:23,  24),  held  that  there  was  a  communicabil- 
ity  of  disease  between  cattle  and  men;  Dr.  Koch  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding.  The  examination  of  the  intestines  was  compul- 
sory, so  that  nothing  deleterious  should  be  eaten  (Lev.,  7:23) ;  dis- 
eased cattle  of  any  kind  were  rejected  as  food.  Animals  that  died 
a  natural  death  (Lev.,  22:8),  as  well  as  those  whose  death  had 
been  caused  by  an  attack  of  another  animal,  were  also  inhibited. 
(Exodus,  22:31.) 
Cattle  in  articulo  mortis  were  not  to  be  killed  for  food,  nor  was 


—3— 

v 

the  amputated  limb  of  a  living  animal  to  be  eaten.  (Duet., 
12:23.)  For  humane  and  hygienic  reasons  blood  spilt  upon  the 
ground  was  covered  (Lev.,  17:13),  and  the  "seething  of  a  kid  in 
the  milk  of  its  mother"  (Exodus,  23  :19;  Deut,  14:21) — an  ampli- 
fication of  which  law  is  the  Talmudic  interdiction  of  eating  meat 
and  butter  together — is  forbidden. 

Camp  life  necessitated  the  burying  of  excrement,  offal,  ordure, 
and  all  refuse,  and  laws  to  this  effect  were  stringent.  (Deut., 
23:13.) 

In  brief,  if  we  may  judge  by  the  Mosaic  dispensation  and  by 

the  later  history  of  the  Jews  as  recorded  in  certain  verses  in  Holy 

Writ,   the  priests  and   prophets — moral   teachers — were   also   the 

'  repositories  of  medical  science  (II  Kings,  5:10;  II  Chron.,  16:12), 

advocating:  Mens  Sana  in  Corpore  Sano. 

The  sanitation  and  hygiene  of  the  Bible  was,  as  was  natural, 
amplified  and  developed  in  the  Talmud;  fifteen  hundred  years 
intervening  between  the  Mosaic  Law  and  the  Mishnaic  Eabbis. 
The  whole  process,  for  instance,  of  the  slaughter  and  examination 
of  animals  for  food  is  minutely  explained  in  section  Hulin,  to  the 
very  size  and  keenness  of  the  knife,  the  cutting  of  the  trachea 
and  esophagus  to  insure  section  of  the  large  vessels  of  the  neck 
for  the  purpose  of  emptying  the  blood  from  the  body,  the  sub- 
sequent examination  of  the  lungs  and  heart  to  determine  whether 
there  be  adhesions,  one  lobe  to  the  other,  or  the  whole  or  part  to 
the  diaphragm  or  chest  wall,  whether  perforations  existed  and  to 
what  extent  these  defects  were  tubercular, — animal  phthisis  and 
tuberculosis  being  guarded  against,  from  the  conviction  of  the  com- 
municability  of  disease  from  cattle  to  man.  Further,  the  detail 
concerning  the  mode  of  examination  for  perforations,  namely,  the 
inflation  of  the  lungs  while  in  water  and  the  tell-tale  bubble  as  a 
consequence;  of  the  removal  of  certain  veins  and  arteries  and  of 
the  refusal  of  all  animals  for  food  that  did  not  meet  with  the  fore- 
going hygienic  requirements :  this  and  more  were  expounded  by  the 
rabbis.  The  apprehension  of  man  becoming  a  part  of  what  he  eats 
and  absorbing  the  qualities  of  his  food,  as  well  as  the  idea  of  the 
comparatively  slow  putrefaction  of  bloodless  meat  and  its  better 
preservation  on  that  account,  resulted  in  the  law  for  salting  and 
soaking  the  raw  flesh.  The  deduction  from  the  biblical  command, 
"Thou  shalt  not  seethe  the  kid  in  its  mother's  milk,"  made  the  eat- 
ing of  mixed  oleaginous  matter,  such  as  meat  and  milk,  or  meat 


and  butter,  appear  to  be  gross  nourishment,  and  hence  forbidden. 
The  consequence  of  eating  prohibited  fish  seems  to  have  appealed 
to  the  later  rabbis  who  believed  that  typhoid  could  be  spread  by  the 
consumption  of  shell-fish ;  oysters,  for  instance,  being  cultivated  in 
the  ooze  and  slime  of  waterways. 

The  practice  of  circumcision  and  its  concomitant  use  of  styptics, 
as  referred  to  in  the  Talmud,  presuppose  a  knowledge  of  anatomy, 
surgery  and  therapeutics, — the  removal  of  the  foreskin  and  the 
underlying  mucous  membrane,  the  pressing  back  of  the  flesh  to 
the  corona  glandis,  the  caution  against  lacerating  the  fraenum,  and 
of  the  health  of  the  child  before  the  operation,  and  its  care  after. 
The  Mishnaic  section  Taharoth  contains  whole  pages  of  pathologi- 
cal conditions  and  their  therapeutics,  hygienic  references,  sanitary  ' 
suggestions,  and  the  uses  of  herbs,  etc.,  for  medicinal  purposes.  A 
glance  at  the  contents  of  this  section  in  its  subdivisions  will  not 
come  amiss. 

Kelim:  Vessels.  Uncleanliness  of  vessels  (chiefly  of  capacity) 
made  of  wood,  stone,  earth,  leather,  bone,  metal  or  glass,  and  of 
all  manner  of  utensils. 

Oholoth :  Tents.  Uncleanliness  from  contact  with  the  dead. 
(Num.,  19:11-22.)  The  tent  or  house  in  which  a  man  died  and 
everything  within  it  are  pronounced  unclean.  Under  this  head  are 
a  variety  of  circumstances  relating  to  the  degrees  of  Uncleanliness, 
distances  at  which  people  may  receive  infection  from  dead  bodies, 
etc.  Of  pollutions  from  sepulchres,  and  places  where  dead  bodies 
formerly  buried  have  been  exhumed.  Of  Uncleanliness  in  dwelling 
houses. 

Negaim:  Leprosy  in  men  and  its  infection  to  garments  and 
houses.  (Lev.,  xiiirxiv.)  Eules  for  discerning  signs  of  leprosy. 
At  what  time  of  the  day  infected  persons  are  to  be  viewed.  How 
the  examination  is  to  be  made.  No  man  may  pronounce  upon  his 
own  case;  the  priest  only  is  to  pronounce  upon  the  Uncleanliness. 
Articles  touched  by  the  leper  unclean.  Of  leprosy  in  garments. 
Garments  made  of  camel's  hair  and  sheep's  wool  mixed  were  never 
infected,  providing  there  was  more  of  the  former  than  the  latter. 
Of  leprosy  in  houses.  Method  of  examining  them.  Of  infection 
occasioned  by  a  leper's  entering  a  house,  or  walking  in  a  crowd. 
The  purification  of  lepers.  Details  concerning  remedial  agents  in 
leprosy.  Lepers  prohibited  to  marry. 

Taharoth:     Purifications.     This    subdivision    relates   to    minor 


—5— 

impurities  lasting  for  a  day  only,  and  the  ablutions  necessary  for 
their  removal.  The  cleanliness  of  the  olive  press  and  the  wine 
press. 

Mikavoth:  Pools  of  Water.  (Lev.,  11:36.)  Of  pools  of  water 
in  which  those  that  are  unclean  may  bathe.  What  constitutes  clean 
water  and  what  amount  is  necessary  for  a  ritual  bath. 

Nidda:  Menstrual  Pollutions.  The  separation  of  women  dur- 
ing their  menses  and  after  childbirth,  etc. 

Zabim:  Seminal  uncleanliness  in  men.  (Lev.,  15  :1-19.)  How 
these  pollutions  operate  so  as  to  affect  other  matter. 

Tebul  Yom :  Immersion  on  the  day  of  uncleanliness.  Eelating 
to  the  ablutions  of  the  priest. 

Yadaim :  Hands.  Relating  to  the  washing  of  the  hands  before 
eating,  and  of  other  bodily  cleanliness. 

After  a  perusal  of  this  extract  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that 
the  rabbis  pronounced  a  dictum  that  has  its  force  today:  "Cleanli- 
ness is  next  to  godliness."  (Ab.  Z.,  20:2.) 

Where  health  was  concerned  everything  was  of  importance;  the 
number  of  cubic  feet  of  air  per  pupil  in  the  school  room,  the  exam- 
ination into  the  sanitary  condition  of  highways  and  streets  as  well 
as  manufactories  and  workshops,  and  the  burning  of  waste  and 
offal. 

From  the  modern  standpoint,  the  Talmudic  "Theory  and  Prac- 
tice of  Medicine"  may  appear  crude,  strange  and  occasionally 
unreasonable.  Medicine,  like  other  sciences,  is  a  growth,  and  its 
evolution  and  development  is  a  reflex  of  its  time.  Physicians  lay 
great  store  by  the  knowledge  of  Hippocrates,  Aristotle  and  Galen, 
yet  the  Talmud  contains  medical  matter  not  to  be  found  in  the 
works  of  either  of  these  masters. 

Much,  however,  was  the  common  property  of  Judea,  Greece  and 
Rome,  and  the  marvel  remains,  not  how  empiric  the  practitioners 
were,  but  how  much  they  really  knew,  even  from  the  standpoint  of 
the  twentieth  century.  A  careful  reading  of  the  Talmud  throws 
light  upon  the  special  Pathology  of  the  age,  and  its  Therapeutics. 
Among  other  diseases,  the  diagnosis  of  which  cannot  be  ascertained 
with  certainty  today,  are  the  following: 

Malignant  throat  trouble,  probably  diphtheria  (Ber.,  8:1); 
fevers  (Ned.,  41:1);  jaundice  (Sab.,  109:2);  boulemia  (Yoma, 
83:2);  colic  (Ned.,  31:2);  disease  caused  by  drinking  the  froth 
of  liquids  (Git.,  69:1)  ;  nervousness  manifested  by  the  thought  of 


—6— 

impending  danger  (Git.,  69:2)  ;  hydrophobia  (Hag.,  3:2)  ;  gastri- 
tis (B.  K.,  80:1) ;  bleeding  of  the  nose  (Git.,  69:1)  ;  hemorrhage 
of  the  lungs  (Git.,  69:1);  congestion  of  the  brain  (Git.,  68:4); 
dropsy  (Sab.,  33:1) ;  sexual  diseases,  syphilis,  etc.  (Sab.,  110:1-2)  ; 
itch  (Bech.,  41:1);  malaria  (Git,  69:1);  epilepsy  (Sab.,  61:1); 
carbuncle  (Ab.  Z.,  28:1) ;  impotence  (Git,  70:1) ;  glanders  ( Ket, 
77:2);  pterygium — ophthalmia — (Git,  69:1);  flatulence  (Pes., 
116:1);  polypus  (Ket,  77:1);  scorbutus  (Ab.  Z.,  28:1);  convul- 
sions (HuL,  105:2)  ;  hemorrhoids  (Ber.,  55:1);  blindness,  by  day 
or  night  (Git,  69:1);  worms,  parasites  (Sab.,  109:2);  tonsilitis 
Git,  69:1);  cancer  (Ab.  Z.,  10:2);  boils  (Ab.  Z.,  21:1);  gout 
(Sota,  10:1);  wounds  (Ab.  Z.,  28:17);  stone  in  the  bladder  (B. 
M.,  85:1);  cardiacus  (Git,  67:2);  hip  disease  (Git,  69:2);  ear- 
ache, toothache  and  headache  were  common  complaints,  as  they  are 
today. 

Talmudic  pathology  is  of  quaint  interest  to  modern  physicians: 
All  animals  designated  in  scripture  "male  and  female"  have  among 
them  individuals  of  doubtful  sex — androgynes,  or  false  herma- 
phrodite. (Yeb.,  88:2.)  The  rabbis  could  not  decide  to  what  sex 
an  androgynos  belonged;  but  they  agreed  respecting  the  sex  of  a 
tumtim — true  hermaphrodite.  (Bic.  Mishna,  4:5.) 

Cardiacus  is  produced  by  drinking  immoderately  of  new  wine 
direct  from  the  wine  press.  As  a  natural  remedy,  take  lean  meat 
roasted  on  coals  and  diluted  wine.  (Git,  67:2.)  Rabbi  Hanina 
said:  "Why  is  there  not  a  certain  infectious  disease  (rothon, 
ostensibly  a  term  for  both  scarlet  fever  and  measles)  in  Babylon? 
Because  the  inhabitants  are  accustomed  to  eat  mangold  and  to 
drink  a  beverage  prepared  from  corn-rose.  And  why  are  there  no 
lepers  in  Babylon?  Because  the  people  are  in  the  habit  of  eating 
mangold  and  bathing  in  the  Euphrates."  The  symptoms  of  rothon 
are:  Lachrymose  eyes,  running  nostrils,  flowing  saliva.  (Ket, 
77:2.)  Onions  must  have  been  risky  eating.  If  a  man  has  eaten 
onions  in  the  evening  and  is  found  dead  the  next  morning,  there 
is  no  need  to  inquire  of  the  cause  of  his  death.  (Era.,  29:1.) 
These  six  things  are  good  symptoms  in  an  invalid:  Sneezing,  pers- 
piration, evacuation,  seminal  emission,  sleep  and  dreaming.  {Ber., 
57:2.)  The  most  painful  of  all  deaths  is  that  by  quinsy,  the  pain 
of  which  is  like  the  forcible  extraction  of  prickly  thorns  from  wool, 
or  like  a  thick  rope  being  drawn  through  a  small  aperture.  (Ber., 
8:1.)  Dropsy  may  result  from  sexual  excess  or  from  insufficient 


food.  (Sab.,  33:1.)  These  things  cause  hemorrhoids:  Eating  cane 
leaves,  the  foliage  and  tendrils  of  the  vine,  the  palate  of  cattle,  the 
backbones  of  fish,  half-cooked  salt  fish  and  wine  lees.  (Ber.,  55:1.) 

Eabbi  Samuel  said :  "We  know  remedies  for  all  maladies  except 
three :  that  induced  by  unripe  dates  on  an  empty  stomach ;  that 
caused  by  wearing  a  damp  linen  girdle  round  one's  loins;  and  that 
occasioned  by  falling  asleep  after  meals  without  having  first  walked 
a  distance  of  at  least  four  cubits."  (B.  M.,  113.2.)  The  Talmud 
mentions  a  two-headed  child  (Mena.,  37:1),  that  the  sense  of  taste 
was  destroyed  in  the  aged  (Sab.,  152:1),  and  that  the  function  of 
the  kidneys  was  known.  (Ber.,  61 :1.) 

There  are  five  symptoms  in  a  rabid  dog :  its  mouth  is  continually 
open,  its  saliva  flows  freely,  its  ears  dangle,  its  tail  is  held  between 
its  legs,  and  it  walks  in  by-paths.  According  to  Rabbi  Samuel,  the 
animal  is  to  be  destroyed  by  means  of  an  arrow  or  a  knife,  thrown 
at  it;  but  personal  contact  with  it  must  be  shunned.  Injury  is  the 
result  of  contact;  death  that  of  a  bite.  (Yoma.,  83:2.) 

An  anemic  condition  is  referred  to  (Sab.,  134:1),  as  well  as  dis- 
coloration of  the  teeth,  caused  by  fasting.  (Hag.,  22:2.) 

Therapeutic  agents  in  Talmudic  times  were  largely  herbal,  and 
considering  the  limited  pharmacopoeia,  the  rabbis  did  much  with 
little.  For  asthma,  it  says,  take  fennel,  mint,  and  wormwood,  and 
for  convulsions  after  childbirth,  take  the  same  in  spirits.  (Ab.  Z., 
29:1.) 

The  Holy  One,  blessed  be  He,  created  nothing  in  the  world  with- 
out a  purpose.  He  created  the  snail  or  leech  as  a  remedy  for  con- 
tusions; the  fly  for  the  sting  of  bees;  the  gnat  for  the  bite  of  a 
serpent;  the  serpent  for  the  cure  of  a  scab;  and  the  lizard  for  the 
sting  of  a  scorpion.  (Sab.,  77:2.) 

For  cardiacus,  if  it  be  the  result  of  excessively  hot  temperature, 
and  if  it  be  of  several  days'  standing,  cut  up  a  black  hen  longitudi- 
nally and  latitudinally,  and  apply  it  to  the  upper  part  of  the  head, 
after  it  has  been  closely  shaven;  and  when  it  holds  firmly  to  the 
skin,  let  the  patient  be  placed  up  to  his  neck  in  water  till  he  feels 
faint.  Let  him  then  be  taken  out  and  allowed  to  rest;  let  him  be 
given  lean  meat  roasted  on  coals,  and  diluted  wine.  If  the  malady 
be  produced  by  a  cold,  give  him  fat  meat  roasted  on  coals  and  undi- 
luted wine.  (Git.,  67:2.)  In  jaundice,  feed  the  patient  with  ass's 
flesh.  Whoever  is  bitten  by  a  mad  dog,  may  be  fed  with  the  left 
lobe  of  the  dog's  liver  (Yoma,  84:1)  ;  evidently  an  early  instance 


—8— 

of  homeopathy,  similia  similibus  curantur,  and,  perhaps,  a  fore- 
shadowing of  the  modern  discovery  of  the  destructive  influence  of 
bile  on  various  toxic  agents. 

For  the  bite  of  a  serpent,  a  hen  may  be  cut  up  and  applied  to  the 
wound;  herbs  may  also  be  used  for  the  same  purpose.  (Yoma., 
83:2.)  For  continued  fever,  the  weight  in  sea-salt  of  a  brand-new 
souz  (coin)  suspended  on  a  papyrus  fibre  round  the  patient's  neck 
so  that  it  rests  in  the  hollow  in  front.  For  tertian  fever,  take  seven 
small  grapes  from  seven  different  vines  and  seven  grains  of  caraway 
seed,  and  tie  them  to  the  hollow  in  front  of  the  neck  with  a  papyrus 
fibre.  (Sab.,  66:2.)  It  may  be  here  remarked,  that  seven  was  a 
sacred  number. 

Eabbi  Yochanan,  who  suffered  from  scurvy,  applied  to  a  Gentile 
matron  for  a  remedy,  which  she  prepared  for  him,  namely:  yeast, 
water,  olive  oil  and  salt.  (Yoma.,  84:1.) 

Three  effects  are  ascribed  to  Babylonian  broth  (which  was  made 
of  mouldy  bread,  sour  milk  and  salt)  :  It  retards  the  action  of  the 
heart,  it  affects  the  eyesight,  and  emaciates  the  body.  (Pes.,  42:1.) 

Black  cummin  is  one  of  the  sixty  deadly  drugs.     (Ber.,  40:1.) 

Six  things  are  a  certain  cure  for  sickness  (nausea)  :  Cabbage, 
beet  root,  water  distilled  from  dry  moss,  honey,  the  maw  and  the 
matrix  of  an  animal  and  the  left  lobe  of  the  liver.  (Ber.,  40:1.) 

Five  things  are  said  concerning  garlic:  It  nourishes,  it  warms 
inwardly,  it  brightens  the  complexion,  it  increases  virility,  and 
destroys  cancer.  (B.  K.,  82:1.) 

Garlic  was  in  high  repute  in  Egypt,  where  the  Israelites  may 
have  learned  to  appreciate  it.  Dioscorides  (Book  I,  p.  80)  says: 

"The  gods  were  recommended  by  their  taste; 
Such  savoury  deities  must  needs  be  good, 
Which  served  at  once  for  worship  and  for  food/' 

Juvenal  makes  this  the  point  d'appui  of  one  of  his  sarcasms 
(Sat,  12): 

"How  Egypt,  mad  with  superstition  grown, 
Makes  gods  of  monsters,  but  too  well  is  known. 
'Tis  mortal  sin  an  onion  to  devour; 
Each  clove  of  garlic  has  a  sacred  power. 
Eeligious  nation,  sure  and  blest  abodes, 
Where  every  garden  is  o'errun  with  gods." 


—9— 

Aphasia  seems  to  have  been  known  in  those  days,  for  we  read 
that  five  things  restore  the  memory:  Bread,  baked  upon  coals; 
soft-boiled  eggs  without  salt,  the  continued  use  of  olive  oil,  mulled 
wine  and  plenty  of  salt.  (Ab.  Z.,  29:1.) 

As  eating  olives  causes  one  to  forget  things  that  he  has 
known  for  seventy  years,  so  olive  oil  brings  back  to  the  memory 
events  that  happened  seventy  years  before.  (Ab.  Z.,  13:2.) 

These  things  provoke  a  desperate  relapse  in  a  convalescent :  Eat- 
ing beef,  fat  meat,  broiled  meat,  fowl,  roasted  eggs,  cress,  taking 
milk  or  cheese,  or  indulging  in  a  bath.  Some  say  also  eating  wal- 
nuts, others  say  eating  cucumbers.  (Ber.,  57:2.) 

Oil  is  a  specific  for  wounds  (B.  M.,  113:2),  and  asafoetida  for 
cramps  (Sab.,  140:1).  Plaster  and  ointment  (Sab.,  133:1)  served 
much  the  same  purpose  as  they  do  today.  Cinnamon,  myrrh  and 
galbanum  (Ket.,  6:2)  were  used  as  disinfectants  and  deodorants, 
as  well  as  in  embalming. 

From  the  assertion  that  the  bathing  season  at  the  hot  baths  of 
Dirnsis  lasted  twenty-one  days  (Sab.,  147:2),  and  that  the  hot 
baths  at  Tiberius  had  curative  properties  (Sab.,  40:1),  one  may 
gather  that  there  were  fashionable  watering  places  in  those  times 
also. 

For  rothon,  which  seems  to  have  been  a  term  for  both  scarlet 
fever  and  measles,  the  following  curious  treatment  is  recom- 
mended :  Boil  the  leaves  of  nard,  rock-roses,  the  bark  of  nut  trees, 
the  scrapings  of  hides,  trefoil,  and  the  shells  of  unripe  dates  in  a 
large  quantity  of  water.  Eemove  the  patient  to  a  chamber  built 
of  marble,  and  therefore  air-proof;  or,  failing  this,  into  one  of 
which  the  walls  are  seven  bricks  and  a  half  thick,  or  about  twenty- 
two  hand-breadths.  When  there,  put  three  hundred  bowls  of  this 
concoction  upon  his  head  till  the  scalp  is  sufficiently  softened  to 
allow  of  the  application  of  the  operator's  knife.  The  brain  laid 
bare,  take  four  leaves  of  myrtle  and  insert  one  under  each  of  the 
feet  of  the  insect  (which  is  the  cause  of  the  disease).  This  will 
prevent  it,  on  being  seized,  from  burying  its  nails  in  the  membrane 
of  the  brain.  Eemove  it  with  a  pair  of  tweezers,  and  throw  it  into 
the  fire,  otherwise  it  will  find  its  way  back  to  the  brain. 

Rabbi  Yochanan  used  to  warn  against  contact  with  the  insects 
that  clung  to  such  sufferers.  Eabbi  Zera  would  not  sit  where  a 
current  of  air  blew  from  the  direction  they  happened  to  be.  (Ket., 
77:2.) 


—10— 

As  a  specific  for  earache,  oil  obtained  from  the  maybug  and 
poured  into  the  ear;  for  headache,  an  application  of  pitch;  and  for 
toothache,  a  paste  of  garlic,  salt  ond  oil,  rubbed  on  the  gum  or 
pressed  into  the  cavity.  (Sab.,  111:1;  90:1.)  Pepper  was  a  remedy 
for  offensive  breath  (Sab.,  64:2),  and  wine  dropped  into  the  eye 
for  ophthalmia.  (Sab.,  108:2.)  The  most  frequent  cause  of  bodily 
complaints  is  the  blood,  and  the  best  of  all  remedies  is  wine.  (B. 
B.,  58:2.) 

In  Anatomy  and  Physiology,  the  rabbis  taught  that  the  human 
body  has  two  hundred  and  forty-eight  members :  thirty  in  the  foot, 
i.  e.,  six  in  each  toe,  ten  in  the  ankle,  two  in  the  thigh,  five  in  the 
knee,  one  in  the  hip,  three  in  the  hip-ball,  eleven  ribs,  thirty  bones 
in  the  hand,  i.  e.,  six  in  each  finger,  two  in  the  fore-arm,  two  in  the 
elbow,  one  in  the  upper  arm,  four  in  the  shoulder.  Thus  we  have 
one  hundred  and  one  on  each  side;  to  this  add  eighteen  vertebrae 
in  the  spine,  nine  in  the  head,  eight  in  the  neck,  six  in  the  chest, 
and  five  in  the  loins.  (Oh.,  1:8.)  Also  the  trachea,  esophagus, 
lungs,  bronchi,  gall,  meninges,  placenta,  matrix,  spinal  cord  and 
spleen,  and  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  nerves  and  arteries. 
(Bech.,  45  :1.)  The  regular  period  of  gestation  is  two  hundred  and 
seventy-one  to  two  hundred  and  seventy-three  days.  (Md.,  38:1.) 
There  are  four  more  bones  in  the  female  than  in  the  male.  (Bee., 
45:1.)  A  creature  that  has  no  bones  in  its  body  does  not  live  more 
than  twelve  months.  (Hullin,  58:1.) 

During  the  first  three  months  of  pregnancy  the  child  lies  in  the 
lower  part  of  the  uterus,  during  the  next  three  it  occupies  the  mid- 
dle part,  and  during  the  last  three  it  is  in  the  upper  part.  (Nid., 
31 :1.)  The  regular  action  of  the  excretory  organs  is  the  secret  of 
a  man's  healthy  looks,  and  a  disordered  stomach  is  the  root  of  most 
diseases.  (Ber.,  55:1.)  A  fowl  hatches  in  twenty-one  days,  and 
a  pig  bears  in  sixty.  (Bech.,  8:1.) 

Simple  surgery  must  have  had  a  fair  field,  as  lancing  and  cup- 
ping were  prevalent.  The  rabbis  taught :  He  that  draws  blood 
from  his  veins  should  not  taste  milk,  cheese,  onions  or  cress. 
(Kid.,  42:1.) 

The  Talmud  teaches  that  in  the  biblical  reference  to  Daniel  and 
his  three  friends,  the  expression  "not  even  the  scar  of  a  lancet  was 
upon  them"  bespeaks  the  prevalence  of  blood-letting  in  the  East, 
and  the  absence  of  the  scar  on  the  persons  of  Daniel  and  his  com- 


—11— 

panions  is  a  testimony  to  their  health,  of  body,  and  their  moral 
purity.  (San.,  39:1-2.) 

Mention  is  made  of  a  certain  phlebotomist — a  noteworthy  excep- 
tion to  the  well-known  rule  (Kid.,  82:2)  that  phlebotomists  are 
to  be  regarded  as  morally  depraved,  and  in  the  same  class  with 
goldsmiths,  perfumers,  hair-dressers,  etc. — Abba  Umna  by  name, 
who  had  a  special  mantle  with  slits  in  the  sleeves  for  females,  so 
that  he  could  surgically  operate  upon  them  without  seeing  their 
naked  arms,  while  he  himself  wore  a  cloak  over  head  and  shoulders 
so  that  his  own  face  could  not  be  seen  by  them. 

Even  dental  surgery  was  known.  A  man  once  vowed  that  he 
would  not  marry  his  sister's  daughter,  as  she  had  lost  a  front  tooth. 
On  hearing  this,  Rabbi  Ishmael  supplied  her  with  a  gold  tooth,  and 
naturally  the  couple  lived  happily  ever  after.  (Ned.,  66:1.) 

Two  difficult  operations  are  recorded:  A  tube  passed  through 
the  cranium  to  the  back  of  the  eyes,  for  relief  in  ophthalmia  (B. 
M.,  85,  B.) ;  and  the  Caesarian  section  (Nid.,  40:1).  The  opening 
of  an  abscess  was  common  (Ab.  Z.,  28:1),  and  the  dissection  of  a 
cadaver  is  also  mentioned.  (Ber.,  45:1.)  An  instance  is  cited 
of  the  skin  of  the  human  face  being  anatomically  removed  and 
scientifically  preserved  so  as  to  retain  accurately  the  natural 
features  and  expression  of  the  original.  (Ab.  Z.,  11:2.) 

Hygiene,  both  physical  and  dietetic,  is  preeminently  a  Talmudic 
safeguard,  as  the  following  extracts  will  show: 

A  man  must  not  marry  into  a  family  that  is  subject  to  epilepsy 
or  leprosy.  (Yeb.,  64:2.)  Washing  the  hands  before  and  after 
meals  is  obligatory.  (Hul.,  105:2.) 

There  are  seven  hundred  species  of  fish,  eight  hundred  of  locusts 
and  twenty-four  of  birds  that  are  unclean,  while  the  species  of 
birds  that  are  clean  cannot  be  numbered.  (Hul.,  63:2.) 

Until  one  is  forty,  eating  is  more  advantageous  than  drinking. 
After  that  age,  the  rule  is  reversed.  (Hul.,  152  :1.)  It  were  better 
to  cut  the  hands  off  than  to  touch  the  eye,  the  nose,  the  mouth,  the 
ear,  without  having  first  washed  them.  Unwashed  hands  may 
cause  blindness,  deafness,  foulness  of  breath,  or  polypus.  (Sab., 
109:1.) 

If  two  men  immerse  at  the  same  time  in  an  ablutionary-font 
containing  exactly  forty  measures  (gallons)  of  water  (the  lowest 
quantity  required  by  law),  they  are  both  clean.  If  one  after  the 
other,  the  first  is  clean,  and  the  second  still  unclean.  (Git.,  16:1.) 


—12— 

Water  that  had  been  left  uncovered  should  not  be  emptied  in  a 
public  thoroughfare,  nor  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  laying  the  dust 
of  the  floor  of  the  house,  nor  for  making  mortar.  No  man  should 
allow  his  own  beast  nor  that  of  his  neighbor  to  drink  of  it,  nor 
should  any  one  bathe  his  face,  hands,  or  feet  in  it  for  fear  of  the 
poison  that  it  may  contain.  (Ab.  Z.,  30:2.) 

If  one  eats  and  does  not  drink,  his  food  turns  to  blood, — one  of 
the  causes  of  derangement  of  the  bowels.  If  one  has  eaten  and 
does  not  walk  four  cubits  before  taking  a  siesta  his  food  is  not 
digested,  and  will  cause,  among  other  disorders,  offensive  breath. 
(Sab.,  41:1.) 

Seven  liquids  come  under  the  generic  term  drink  (Lev.,  xi:34)  : 
Dew,  water,  wine,  oil,  blood,  milk  and  honey.  (Mach.,  6:6.) 

Three  cups  of  wine  during  supper  are  recommended  to  aid  diges- 
tion. (Ket.,  8:2.) 

A  soft  boiled  egg  gives  more  nourishment  than  six  ounces  of  fine 
flour.  (Ber.,  44:2.) 

The  monthly  eating  of  lentils  prevents  quinsy,  but  they  are  not 
to  be  eaten  every  day,  as  they  taint  the  breath.  Mustard  eaten  once 
in  thirty  days  drives  away  sickness,  but  if  taken  every  day  the 
action  of  the  heart  is  apt  to  be  affected.  (Ber.,  40:1.) 

He  that  is  in  the  habit  of  eating  small  fish  does  not  suffer  from 
indigestion ;  and  what  is  more,  such  food  contributes  to  the  healthy 
development  of  the  whole  body.  (Ber.,  40:1.) 

Hemorrhoids  are  induced  by  eating  cane  leaves,  vine  leaves,  and 
tendrils,  such  unsalted  parts  of  slain  cattle  as  have  a  rough  sur- 
face, the  vertebra  of  fish,  salt  fish  not  sufficiently  cooked,  the  lees 
of  wine,  etc.,  etc.  (Ber.,  55:1.) 

Use  no  pot  for  cooking  which  another  has  already  used.  (Pes., 
112:2.) 

If  one  desires  to  eat  a  hearty  meal,  let  him  walk  ten  times  a  dis- 
tance of  four  cubits,  or  four  times  a  distance  of  ten  cubits.  (Ber., 
23:2.) 

A  meal  without  broth  is  no  meal.     (Ber.,  44:1.) 

Meat  counteracts  loss  of  flesh,  and  red  wine  loss  of  blood.  (Sab., 
129:1.) 

People  should  not  converse  during  meals,  lest  the  food  go  the 
wrong  way.  (Taanith,  5:2.) 

Whoever  wishes  to  escape  derangement  of  the  bowels  should 
bathe  habitually  summer  and  winter.  (Git.,  70:1.) 


—13— 

The  use  of  lint  is  recommended  for  one  of  tender  years,  one  with 
child,  and  one  that  suckles  an  infant.  (Yeb.,  12  :2.) 

Oil  of  cloves  has  the  effect  of  removing  the  hair  and  softening 
the  skin.  (Men.,  86:1.) 

Bad  bread,  fresh-brewed  beverages,  and  pungent  vegetables 
diminish  evacuation  and  shrink  the  figure.  (Pes.,  42:1.) 

Milt  is  good  for  the  teeth  but  indigestible ;  leeks  are  injurious  to 
the  teeth  but  good  for  digestion ;  all  vegetables  eaten  raw  spoil  the 
complexion;  all  unripe  or  insufficiently  prepared  edibles  are  inju- 
rious. All  animal  food  strengthens,  and  so  do  those  parts  that  are 
near  the  seat  of  life.  Cabbage  is  good  for  food,  and  mangold  for 
healing;  and  woe  to  the  stomach  into  which  turnip  enters.  (Ber., 
44:2.) 

The  inner  part  of  watermelons  is  healthful  when  eaten  with  beet 
root.  (Ned.,  49:1.) 

If  the  patient  desires  something,  and  the  physician  thinks  he  is 
not  to  have  it,  the  former  is  to  be  gratified,  because  (Prov., 
14:10)  "The  heart  knows  its  own  bitterness."  (Yoma,  83:1.) 

After  all  meals  eat  a  little  salt,  and  after  all  beverages  drink  a 
little  water.  If  one  has  eaten  any  dish,  and  has  not  taken  salt 
afterwards,  or  if  he  has  drunk  any  beverage  and  has  not  partaken 
of  water  thereafter,  if  it  happens  by  day,  he  may  apprehend  offen- 
sive breath,  if  by  night,  an  attack  of  quinsy.  (Ber.,  40:1.) 

Any  meal  without  salt  does  not  deserve  the  name.     (Ber.,  44:1.) 

Eight  things  diminish  the  power  of  procreation :  Excessive  con- 
sumption of  salt,  hunger,  leprosy,  weeping,  sleeping  on  the  bare 
ground,  trefoil,  certain  unripe  berries  and  blood-letting  at  the 
lower  part  of  the  body.  (Gittin.,  70:1.) 

There  are  eighty-three  diseases  which  may  be  prevented  by  an 
early  breakfast  of  bread  and  salt  and  a  small  pitcher  of  water. 
(B.  K.,  92:2.) 

He  that  drinks  during  meals  preserves  himself  from  bowel  com- 
plaint. (Ber.,  40:1.) 

Rav  said:  "He  that  is  in  the  habit  of  eating  small  fishes  pre- 
serves himself  from  derangement  of  the  bowels.  More  than  that, 
small  fishes  fatten,  augment  and  strengthen  the  whole  human  body. 
He  that  eats  carraway  seed  does  not  suffer  from  headache." 
Against  this  Rabbi  Shimon  ben  Gamliel  is  cited,  who  said  that 
carraway  seed  was  one  of  the  sixty  deadly  poisons.  (Ber.,  40:1.) 

Any  sickness  rather  than  derangement  of  the  bowels;  any  pain 


—14— 

rather  than  that  in  the  heart;  any  complaint  rather  than  headache, 
and  any  evil  rather  than  an  evil  wife.  (Sab.,  11 :1.) 

Pearl  barley,  which  remains  in  the  sieve  after  the  husks  have 
been  blown  off,  acts  medicinally  upon  a  patient.  (Ned.,  41:2.) 

One  rabbi  who  visited  another  on  his  deathbed,  and  found  him 
weeping,  reminded  him,  by  way  of  consolation,  of  the  old  tradi- 
tion, that  to  die  of  relaxation  of  the  bowels  was  a  good  omen, 
because  the  majority  of  the  righteous  died  of  that  complaint. 
(Ket,  103:2.) 

Cold  water,  morning  and  evening,  is  better  than  all  cosmetics. 
(Sab.,  108:2.) 

A  wet-nurse  should  have  relaxation  from  work,  and  an  addi- 
tional allowance  to  her  diet;  also  an  extra  portion  of  wine;  for 
wine  increases  milk.  (Ket.,  65:2.) 

Six  things  possess  medicinal  virtue:  Cabbage,  lungwort,  beet 
root,  water,  and  certain  parts  of  the  intestines  of  animals,  and 
some  also  say  little  fishes.  (Ab.  Z.,  29:1.) 

There  are  sixty  kinds  of  wine ;  the  best  of  all  is  the  red  aromatic 
wine;  bad  white  wine  is  the  worst.  (Git.,  70:1.) 

An  early  breakfast  of  bread  and  salt  and  a  bottle  of  water  will 
cure  biliousness.  (B.  K.,  92:2.) 

The  following  is  moral,  and  not  physical:  One  cup  of  wine  is 
good  for  a  woman,  two  are  disgraceful,  three  demoralizing,  and 
four  brutalizing.  (Ket,  65:1.) 

The  Talmud  also  gives  some  particulars  of  its  medical  practi- 
tioners. For  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  (from  200  B.  C.  to  50 
C.  E.)  the  Essenes,  a  Jewish  sect,  practiced  medicine.  A  female 
analyst  is  mentioned — in  the  mother  of  Abaii  (Gitt.,  67 :2) — a  cau- 
tion not  to  live  in  a  city  whereof  the  mayor  is  a  physician  (Pes., 
113:1),  from  which  one  may  draw  his  own  inference,  and  the  sug- 
gestion that  a  physician  who  professes  to  cure  for  nothing  is  often 
worth  nothing.  (B.  K.,  85:1.) 

The  greatest  of  the  Talmudic  physicians  was  Samuel  the  Astron- 
omer, who  flourished  in  the  third  century  A.  C.  E.,  and  "who  knew 
the  paths  of  the  heavens  as  well  as  the  streets  of  Nahardea."  His 
medical  opinions  are  scattered  throughout  the  post-mishnaic  writ- 
ings. He  was  a  specialist  in  bowel  complaints  (Ned.,  50:2),  and 
an  ardent  upholder  of  the  pure  water  and  pure  air  cure.  (Sab., 
41:1.)  He  also  compounded  a  salve  that  healed  wounds  very 
effectively.  (B.  M.,  107:2.)  Ben  Achijah  flourished  about  100 


—15— 

B.  C.  E.,  and  was  attached  to  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem.  His  pro- 
fessional services  were  continually  required  by  the  priests  who, 
walking  barefoot  upon  the  marble  pavements,  became  catarrhal. 
(Shek.,  5:1.)  Rabbi  Haninah  of  Sephoris,  a  contemporary  of 
Samuel  the  Astronomer,  is  also  noted.  He  believed  that  warm 
water  and  anointing  with  oil  would  prolong  life.  (Yoma.,  49:1.) 

Rabbi  Gamliel  III,  the  last  descendant  of  the  renowned  Hillel 
and  the  last  Patriarch,  flourished  in  the  first  half  of  the  fifth  cent- 
ury A.  C.  E.  He  was  supposed  to  have  found  a  specific  for  the 
cure  of  diseases  incident  to  the  spleen.  His  contemporary,  Marcel- 
lus  Empiricus,  physician  to  the  Emperor  Theodosius,  remarked  in 
his  work  "De  Medicamentis  empiricis,  physicis,"  etc.,  lib.  21,  "Ad 
splenem  remedium  singulare,  quod  de  experimentis  Gamlielus 
patriarchus  proxime  ostendit."  (Bergel,  Med.  der  Tal.) 

Aba,  the  phlebotomist,  was  also  an  eminent  physician.  Apart 
from  his  practice,  he  enjoyed  the  reputation  of  being  very  charita- 
ble, his  fees  were  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  patient  and  were 
placed  by  the  patient  in  a  box  hidden  from  all  eyes.  He  helped 
poor  Talmud  students  and  was  a  benefactor  generally.  (Taanith, 
21:2.) 

Of  Rabbi  Kahana  it  is  told  that  he  cured  a  case  of  jaundice  by 
wrapping  the  patient  in  cloths,  thereby  causing  excessive  perspira- 
tion. (Sab.,  110:2.) 

Abaii  or  Nachmani,  Jacob  the  Manichean,  Bejamin  the  Essene. 
Theodas  of  Laodicea,  Jacob  of  Sicyon,  Tobias  of  Modin  and  Joseph 
of  Gamla  were  all  well  known,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  an 
extended  record  of  their  work  was  kept. 

In  conclusion:  An  effort  has  been  made  to  review  the  Hygiene 
and  Medicine  of  the  Talmud  in  their  several  scientific  branches. 
Indifferent  reasoning  has  not  been  concealed,  the  good  and  the  bad 
have  both  been  stated.  To  the  modern  physician  the  diagnosis  of 
a  disease  by  some  mishnaic  doctor  and  the  remedy  prescribed  may 
occasionally  seem  curious  if  not  puerile;  but  it  cannot  be  gainsaid 
that  the  Jews  of  old  were  in  the  dim  light  that  flickered  two  thou- 
sand years  ago,  fully  abreast  of  their  contemporaries,  and  in  many 
instances  in  advance  of  them.  The  rabbinical  mode  of  slaughter- 
ing cattle  and  the  subsequent  examination  of  tbe  carcass  is  in 
vogue  today  among  millions  of  Jewish  people,  and  has  the  seal  of 
approval  of  the  most  scientific  men  of  the  medical  profession. 


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